Argentina wins first World Cup title since 1986
‘La Albiceleste’ takes home the World Cup trophy after winning on penalties • Messi earns first World Cup title as Mbappe scores hat trick
Argentina have secured their first World Cup title since 1986 after beating France on penalties at the final in Doha.
It was football superstar Lionel Messi who scored the opening goal in a penalty given at the 23rd minute. Di María doubled the lead for Argentina at the 36th minute, assisted by Mac Allister.
Argentina delivered strongly in the first half of the game at almost 60% possession, leaving France struggling to gain possession or deliver any shots on target.
France started to regain composure in the second half, with Mbappe scoring two goals 90 seconds apart at the 80th and 81st minute.
But as the game went into the second half of extra time, Messi scored at the 109th minute, putting Argentina in the lead for 10 minutes.
In the 117th minute, the referee awarded a penalty to France after a shot from Mbappe was blocked by the arm of an Argentinian player.
As the game headed into penalties, French players Coman and Tchouameni missed consecutive penalties to give Argentina their third World Cup.
A flash to the past
Football fans were quick to notice a similarity between Sunday’s game and the 1986 World Cup final that saw Argentina take home the trophy.
Argentina had been dominating the game, but opponents West Germany scored two late goals in rapid succession and equalised the game.
That day, Argentina quickly recovered and scored the winning goal at 84th minute. Today, they secured their victory 4-2 on penalties.